The Lawless Lady

"The Lawless Lady" is the last of three interconnected novellas written by Leslie Charteris and included in the second Saint book Enter the Saint published in 1930. It had previously been published in the magazine Thriller as "Crooks Cargo."

Plot
Simon Templar appears only briefly in this story which focuses on one of Templar's agents, Dicky Tremaine, who infiltrates a crime ring intent on some seaside larceny, only to fall in love with its female leader. Although the previous two stories and the first book Meet the Tiger indicate that Templar is not averse to using deadly force, this is the first Saint story in which Templar is actually shown killing anyone. Most of the story takes place outside of the United Kingdom, the first of what would be many international Saint adventures, although it wouldn't be until "The Wonderful War", a story in the Featuring the Saint collection, that a story would be completely set outside of the country.

Television adaptation
"The Lawless Lady" was adapted as an episode of The Saint starring Roger Moore and first broadcast on 30 January 1964. The basic storyline of the episode, however, is substantially different from the original. This is the earliest Charteris story to be adapted for the TV series.